Ice wine or as popularly known as Eiswein; in Germany, is prepared from frozen grapes. Ice wine is a type of dessert wine made from frozen grapes. The sugars and other melted solids do not freeze, but the water freezes, resulting in a sweet, and a more concentrated wine. The freezing occurs before fermentation process. The first ice wine was manufactured in Germany in the year 1794 as a result of an accident. The owner of a vineyard in Germany was out of town when he was supposed to be in his vineyard harvesting grapes. When he returned, he decided to pick and process the grapes anyway. The outcome was ice wine.

The ice wine grapes are naturally frozen. The grapes used for the preparation of ice wine are picked in the teeny weeny hours of the morning just after the first frostiness or snow hits. The freezing of the grapes cannot be done by placing the grapes in the freezer or by any other method. After the grapes are harvested, they are pressed without delay. The bit of ice or water is extracted and the strong flavor comes from the highly concentrated acid and sugar, which did not freeze. The ice wine is kept in oak barrels for fermentation process for several months.

The production process of ice wine consumes huge time and also involves risk factors; due to which ice wines are expensive and usually comes in a small bottle. The most expensive and popular ice wines are Canadian ice wine and German Eiswein. The popular ice wines are: - Canadian Icewine Sampler Pack, Convey Run Reserve Semillon Ice Wine 06, Saint Chapelle Reisling Ice Wine, Jackson Triggs Ice Wine Vidal 07 etc. Canada, Germany, Austria and British Columbia are the leading producers of ice wine due to consistent icy or cold weather. Other countries like United States, New Zealand, Italy, Hong Kong, France etc produces ice wine in a smaller quantity.

The red grape Cabernet Franc is utilized for the production of ice wine in Canada and British Columbia whereas German winemakers considers Reisling grape as the noble and ideal variety of grapes for the preparation of ice wine. Ice wines contain slightly less alcoholic strength than table wines. The ice wine grapes should be protected from every type of rots especially Botrytis cinerea. Many Canadian wineries produce sparkling ice wine which is an attractive version of ice wine.

Ice wines are best served when chilled and goes well with any type of dessert. Ice wines should not be gulped down swiftly. Ice wine can be regarded as an ultimate extravagance or treat to enjoy in the evening with good food and good company.